Chance for snow remains in forecast for Saturday

A look at the surface map via Ocean Prediction Center at 7 AM Sunday illustrates two key elements. A departing low that will be rapidly intensifying on its way to Newfoundland, along with a weak frontal boundary from Long Island New York into the Canadian Maritimes.

It will be that front that that will dictate just how close that low comes to Maine. It's a good bet that that the Mid-Atlantic and Southern New England will get some plowable snow. The precipitation shield lurks very close to the Maine shorelines.

As that weak front drops through the region Friday night into Saturday, I expect it to bring snow showers with it, primarily in the north and mountains. As moisture tapped that it is and with the region being in a bone dry air mass, it may only amount to flurries and isolated squalls.

I am keeping the chance for snow showers in the forecast for the south and east due to the proximity of the low to the coast. Be advised that any slow down of that weak front may bring steadier snow for the coast. For now, it does not appear that way, but I refuse to dismiss any snow activity just yet. At the very least, clouds will be more prevalent, but that weak front will reinforce the frigid cold already in place.

Cold to linger through the first week of January at least

Take this idea with a grain of rock salt for now, but there may be light at the end of the cold roughly around the first full weekend in January. Given the cold, their may be a storm involved to tip the scale to a more seasonable or slightly above normal period to break the snap. Outside of Saturday, the region appears to remain in a frigid, dry pattern for the remainder of the New Year's weekend and into the following week.